Luckily, once I jumped back into the movement, within a few breaths, I felt my heart rate calm and my shoulders relax down my back again. I ignored notifications for the rest of class to make sure I could soak up all the benefits of tai chi while I had the opportunity.
Although tai chi may be an ancient practice, modern exercise science shows it can lead to a longer, healthier life in a number of ways. (Check out more exercises for longevity!)
“It’s not just a physical exercise,” says Mike Ng, DACM, CES, a tai chi master who is also a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. “It might start as that, but it’s really a full mind-body experience.”
What is tai chi?
There are several myths and legends surrounding tai chi’s origin story. But historians agree that tai chi started as a martial art in ancient China.
“It combines martial arts techniques with traditional Chinese philosophy, meditative breathing techniques, [and] theories drawn from traditional Chinese medicine,” Dr. Ng says.
Tai chi evolved with the philosophies of Daoism and Confucianism, eventually becoming a mind-body practice, according to the Smithsonian. Today, it’s most often used as a gentle form of exercise.
In contrast to your typical gym workout, however, tai chi focuses on relaxing the muscles rather than tensing them—it’s a restorative practice. With soft, circular movements, practitioners move slowly and deliberately to promote the circulation of energy (called “qi”) throughout your body. Dr. Ng says the practice is designed to help us balance opposing energies in order to encourage good health, which is a fundamental tenet of Chinese medicine.
“Tai chi allows us to experience the principles of yin and yang in our own bodies, and then start to apply them to all parts of life,” he says.
The different types of tai chi
As tai chi spread over the centuries, several different styles developed. Today, most modern practices stem from one of five primary traditions. Here’s how Dr. Ng distinguishes each one:
- Chen: The most original version of tai chi, Chen most closely resembles martial arts and includes bursts of power like stomping, jumping, or kicking.
- Yang: With smooth, graceful movements practiced at an even tempo, Yang is the most popular type of tai chi practiced around the world.
- Wu: This originates from Yang style, but is characterized by forward-leaning postures.
- Sun: This style is sometimes called “tai chi for arthritis” because it’s easy on the joints, with forward-and-back shuffling footwork that doesn’t demand too much leg strength.
- Wu/Hao: Focused on internal development with small, subtle movements, this is the least common of these five main styles.
“The more you practice tai chi, the more relaxed you get, both releasing physical tension—any kind of aches and pains—but also mental tension like stress and anxiety.” —Mike Ng, DACM, CES
6 benefits of tai chi that’ll convince you to give it a try
1. It’s very relaxing
As a form of moving meditation, tai chi’s repetitive motions can bring us into a calm, deeply internal state like that “spell” I felt I was under.
“We live in very stressful times,” says Margaret Olmsted, who has been teaching with the Tai Chi Foundation since 1976. “Anything that helps you center and relax and breathe is good. And tai chi is very good at all of those.”
The relaxation is both physical and mental, Dr. Ng points out: “The more you practice tai chi, the more relaxed you get, both releasing physical tension—any kind of aches and pains—but also mental tension like stress and anxiety.”
2. It’ll improve your balance
We begin to lose our ability to balance after age 50, Olmsted points out. Tai chi can be a way to improve our balance so we don’t lose it.
“It’s really good for fall prevention,” Dr. Ng says. Science backs this up: One 2023 study published in Frontiers in Public Health found that tai chi (particularly yang style) can improve balance in older adults. Another 2024 study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry found practicing tai chi can reduce motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease, leading to fewer falls.
3. It may help reduce pain for certain conditions
The slow, gentle movements and focused breathing of tai chi could help ease some of your aching. In particular, if you have low-back pain, fibromyalgia, or osteoarthritis in your knees, science shows that tai chi can decrease some of the pain.
4. It’s good for your lungs
Focusing on integrating your breath with movement through tai chi can be good for your lungs as well. A 2021 review by The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health found tai chi was better than breathing exercises alone or walking at helping improve lung function in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
5. It’ll give you a cognitive boost
Tai chi can give your brain a healthy workout, too. One 2019 study published in Clinical Interventions in Aging found tai chi could improve short-term cognitive function at the onset of dementia in older adults.
6. It’ll help you sleep easier
With its relaxing, stress-relieving effects, it’s not surprising that tai chi has been shown to help with sleep. Specifically, a 2024 study published in Frontiers in Neurology found that tai chi could improve sleep quality, extend sleep duration, and reduce daytime drowsiness.